In many applications of x-ray imaging such as medical imaging and industrial inspections, it is often desirable to obtain dynamic (i.e., moving) images of objects in different dynamic states (i.e., phases) with high temporary resolution. For example, the object may be undergoing motions, such as the cyclic motions involved in human respiration and cardiac activities. Unfortunately, motion-induced blurs can degrade the image quality, resulting in significantly deteriorated imaging resolution. The current practice of reducing motion blurs is to use fast frame readout from x-ray detectors, or short x-ray exposure from x-ray sources.
Because of technological constrains, however, the frame rate of current x-ray detectors is limited by the speed from detector readout electronics and the x-ray exposure time is limited by the flux from a given x-ray tube. To reduce the imaging blur induced by a cyclic motion, it is common to gate the x-ray exposure and the image acquisition to the cyclic motion. This method can reduce the blur, but it can also significantly increase the imaging time because only one image is taken within a single motion cycle or predetermined motion range.
Accordingly, in all existing methods, the temporal resolution is limited by the pulsing control of the x-ray source and the imaging time is limited by the x-ray detector speed. Advances in this field have yielded devices and methods that can achieve high temporal resolution by using a carbon nanotube (CNT) x-ray source, and multiplexing methods can increase the 3D x-ray imaging speed. Despite these advances, however, it would desirable for a system and method for x-ray imaging of dynamic objects with high temporal resolution and fast imaging speed without using fast x-ray detectors.